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TRP: Goro and Mask (Battery)
COYOTE Day 408. Goro has a series of very persistent dreams. He dreams that Hansel has a trident with an odd item attached to it called the Ancient Battery. This item spits electricity. The dreams seem very insistent that Goro needs to inspect the battery pack, because it is malfunctioning. In the morning, Goro awakens and goes to see Hansel, then pokes the battery pack. It instantly electrocutes him and temporarily him dead. The ground fell out from beneath Goro, and blackness instantly swallowed him up. He reappeared somewhere else-- a soft, warm black void. This place felt more real than dreams. It felt solid. As Goro stood inside the void, a comfortable background appeared: A ramshackle house with a low couch covered in furs by the fire. LINA Goro tiptoed around the room, peering into corners to inspect the space. COYOTE There was a knock at the door. LINA Goro jumped. He crept toward the door and paused in front of it, listening, suspicious. "Who is it?" COYOTE "Mask," said the person on the other side of the door. It sounded like a young man speaking. LINA "Nuh uh." COYOTE There was a brief silence on the other side of the door, like the person didn't know how to respond to that. Then he said, "What?" LINA Goro narrowed his eyes. He opened the door, and peered out through the crack. COYOTE A young man, roughly thirteen or fourteen years of age, stood at the doorstep-- a little stunted and scrawny, like he hadn't had enough food growing up. He looked up at Goro. "The fuck d'you mean, nuh uh?" he said. LINA "You ain't fuckin' Mask. That fucker's a god." COYOTE "I am a fucking-- you know what? It's fine, you'll remember later," Mask said. "Look, can I come in? We really gotta make this quick, man. This is super fucking against the rules. We gotta get this done before anybody with a stick up their ass notices what I'm doing. Cough, Lathander, cough." LINA Goro opened the door and took a step back, eyes still narrowed. "Why am I here? Is this a dream?" He tried to remember what he'd been doing a minute ago, but it was fuzzy. COYOTE "Uh. Don't worry about it. You'll wake up in, like, a second. It's fine," Mask said. "Tell your husband I'm real sorry I had to shock you. I just needed to borrow you to give you something." Mask stepped into the shack. LINA "Give me what?" COYOTE "Well, we have a problem right now," Mask said. "You can't cast magic because you don't have access to any of your memories right now. You can't remember how to fucking do 'em. I can't have that. You're one of my guys. What're you supposed to do with magic, eh? Just let your fucking husband protect you? Naw. Naw, that's not how it works. Without me? Mask? I'm your guy." Mask held up a finger. "So I had this idea. You don't have your memories of how to cast spells. But, see, I can give you my memories. Because I've been there with you every time you needed to cast a spell, Goro. I've been there watching your back, like I do all my clerics." He spread his arms like he was waiting for Goro to see how great this was. LINA Goro stared. COYOTE "Y'know, I like you better with your memories," Mask said. "You were more... fucking... reverential, and shit. Get those back, man." LINA "Uh. We're trying, apparently. Me and my family." He shrugged. "Hey, uh. Wait a second. So, I was a pretty powerful cleric, right?" COYOTE Mask began popping his fingers, for some reason, like he was getting ready for something. "Yeah." LINA "But probably not the most powerful cleric in existence, I'm assuming." COYOTE "Nah." LINA "If you give me all your memories, then I'll know more than any other cleric. Would I be the most powerful cleric in existence then?" COYOTE "Probably," Mask said. LINA Goro's mouth twitched into a smile. COYOTE "Naw, listen," Mask said. "I'm for that. An avatar of me running around the Mortal Plane? That sounds fucking great. Let's do it, baby. But if I stick some uppity mortal with all my memories-- no offense, dollface-- somebody's gonna notice. We ain't allowed to do that shit, Goro. It's against the rules. Y'know what's gonna happen? The big guy upstairs-- the real big guy-- he's gonna notice, and he's gonna burn all my followers off the planet, and then he's gonna give me a timeout. Won't be fun for you. I promise you that." LINA "Eh? Who's the real big guy?" COYOTE "Ao," Mask said. "The Overgod. Hey, you ever wonder if there's anything bigger than Ao? Like, maybe there's a god of him. An Omni-Overgod." He started cracking his fingers again. LINA "I don't know what I ever wondered," Goro said. COYOTE "That's a fair point," Mask said, and then he snapped his pinky finger clean off his hand and held it out to Goro. "Here. Take this." LINA "Oh. Creepy." Goro reached out to take it. COYOTE Mask looked pleased by this response. He dropped it into Goro's waiting palm without directly touching him. The finger did not feel like a flesh-and-blood finger. It was completely smooth and hard, though bendable, as though it were made out of living stone. On the end where Mask had snapped it off, there was no blood or bone visible, just more of the same smooth material. It felt faintly warm. Body temperature. "Keep that with you," Mask said. "It contains a sliver of my power and a sliver of my memories. Small enough to pass unnoticed through the Veil." He pressed a finger to his mouth. LINA "What am I supposed to do? Fuckin' eat it?" COYOTE "What? Fucking... no, Goro. Who are you, Hansel Bell? Lord. I love you so much, you fucking weirdo. Eating fingers." LINA Goro rolled his eyes. He held the finger in front of his face and squinted at it. "So, what, just keeping it with me is gonna give me the memories?" COYOTE "Pretty much," Mask said. "Hey, can you do me a favor?" LINA "I guess." COYOTE "You're going to need that finger later," Mask said. "In, like... maybe a year, maybe a year and a half, give or take. I dunno. Hide the finger somewhere safe when you get your memories back." LINA "Huh. Sure, okay. Guess I gotta do what you tell me, right?" COYOTE "Oh yeah, for sure," Mask said. "I mean, I own your immortal soul and everything. I could torment you eternally." He deflated. "I mean. I probably wouldn't," he admitted. "I'd probably just let you fuck off and become an atheist or whatever. Y'wanna wake up and get back to your husband before he freaks out? I'm not supposed to be killing random folks to talk to them for five minutes, then bringing them back. It's frowned on." LINA Goro's eyes widened. "You killed me?" COYOTE "Oh yeah," Mask said. "I mean. Only for, like, five seconds. That jolt stopped your heart, man. I can't talk to Mortals directly like this unless they're dead. Listen, I'm really sorry. I can't remember what dying is like but I've heard it fucking sucks." LINA "Oh. Jeez. Yeah." Goro frowned. "Hansel's probably pretty upset. Or he will be, if I don't head back." He blinked a few times. "Oh, hey, uh. Thanks. Am I supposed to bow, or some shit?" COYOTE "You usually do, but it's not, like, required. What am I, some kinda king? Naw, fuck off with that shit." LINA Goro shrugged. "'Kay." COYOTE Mask leaned out to touch Goro for the first time. His hands sparked with electricity. The jolt struck Goro squarely in the chest-- and then he woke up. LINA end COYOTE TRP: Goro and Mask (Battery) Summary: Mask briefly kills Amnesiac Goro in order to talk to him. He gives Goro a small piece of him— a pinky finger— which contains a sliver of Mask’s memories and a sliver of his power, allowing Goro to cast spells again despite his amnesia. Mask asks Goro to keep the finger somewhere safe, claiming Goro will “need it later.” Category:Text Roleplay